N.Y. lawmakers press the feds on aid for 9/11 first responders

N.Y. lawmakers press the feds on aid for 9/11 first responders:


"N.Y. lawmakers press the feds on aid for 9/11 first responders

By Sally Goldenberg
Staten Island Advance (NY)
Copyright 2007 The Republican Company, Springfield, MA.
All Rights Reserved

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Health care for first responders sickened by their work at Ground Zero is an issue that has inflamed New Yorkers, and lawmakers are once again demanding answers from the federal government.

They want to know how much money will be forthcoming for the medical monitoring and treatment programs run by FDNY and Manhattan-based Mount Sinai, and when those programs will get more federal dollars.

In an argument that has evolved into a New York City-vs.-Washington, D.C., battle, members of the New York congressional delegation said yesterday that a federal Department of Health and Human Services' task force missed its self-imposed deadline of releasing its latest report by the end of February.

The department said there was no such deadline.

'We need a plan of action to monitor and treat all those who are sick or injured as a result of the terror attacks. We need a plan of action to ensure that those who need medical monitoring and care have access to it,' said Rep. Vito Fossella (R-Staten Island/Brooklyn).

At least 2,383 Staten Islanders have enrolled in the FDNY monitoring and treatment prog"